At least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and six wounded in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district today, the deadliest attack by naxalites targeting security forces this year.

The naxalites mounted the assault around 12:25 PM in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country.

The area is close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, the hotbed of naxal violence which has seen a number of such attacks in the past resulting in high casualties.

“As per the latest report, we have lost 25 men. We are still to account for all the personnel and a search is on.

About 7-8 boys are still missing. The last word on the encounter will come once the entire area has been searched and all troops contacted,” a senior CRPF officer said, adding the paramilitary patrol was about 99 personnel-strong.